Violence in South Africa

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The unrest in South Africa, set off after the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma, has claimed 72 lives so far.

About

• The rioting originated in Zuma’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), where he is serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court, after failing to appear for a corruption inquiry. 
• It has also spread to other provinces like Mpumalanga, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, and Northern Cape. 
• It is the worst civil unrest since 1994

Image Courtesy : BBC 

Immediate and other Reasons for Upsurge

• Release of Zuma: Protests began over calls for release of Zuma, who served the country from 2009-18 and is facing corruption charges. 
  • Zuma faces charges of corruption in various places. It also relates to bribes that he allegedly received during South Africa’s 1999 arms procurement deal.
• Other catalytic factors: While the violence may have been spurred on by the imprisonment of Zuma, it’s being fanned by underlying problems in the country amid a raging pandemic and failing economy.
  • Declining GDP: Last year, the country had witnessed its sharpest decline in annual GDP since 1946, with a contraction of 7 per cent in the economy, Reuters reported in March. 
  • Restriction on business: Since then, with the lockdown and restrictions on businesses, South Africa’s economy has struggled to make a recovery.
  • Unemployment: Unemployment stood at a record high of 32.6 per cent in the first three months of 2021. 
  • Extreme hunger: The Wall Street Journal also reported that a survey conducted in March and April found that more than 10 million people, nearly a sixth of the population, had experienced hunger over the past seven days
• Feedback from the country in the form of violence: It is simply a feedback for discontent. Socioeconomic roots of this thing can’t be ignored and what got it to escalate to this point.

ImageCourtesy: aa.com 

India Africa Relations

• Long history of partnership: 
  • India has a long history of partnership with Africa, with solidarity and political affinity going back to the early 1920s when both regions were fighting against colonial rule and oppression. 
  • After India gained independence, it became a leading voice in support of African decolonisation at the United Nations. 
• Promoted South South Cooperation since independence: 
  • Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme: 
    • In 1964, India launched the ITEC Programme to provide technical assistance through human resource development to other developing countries, with African countries the greatest beneficiaries of it and the Special Commonwealth African Assistance Programme (SCAAP).
• Trade share is increasing: 
  • India’s total trade with Africa grew from US$ 6.8 billion in 2003 to US$ 76.9 billion in 201
  • India is now Africa’s third-largest trade partner.
• Investments in Africa: 
  • Indian investments in Africa have also grown rapidly in the last decade and the country is currently the seventh-largest investor in Africa. 
  • From 2003 onwards, India began to use concessional lines of credit (LoC) as one of its key development partnership instruments to fund the construction of 
    • railway lines, 
    • electrification and irrigation projects, 
    • farm mechanisation projects etc. 
  • The LoCs are demand-driven and extended on the principle of mutual benefit — 
    • recipient countries make development gains, 
    • while the LoCs help create new markets for Indian companies, 
    • foster export growth, 
    • build good relations with countries that are important sources of food, energy and resources, and 
    • contribute to the country’s image abroad. 
• Building African capacity
  • In 1949, India announced 70 scholarships for students from other developing countries to pursue studies in the country. 
  • Currently, about 98 Indian institutions run training courses in fields such as 
    • agriculture, 
    • food and fertiliser, 
    • engineering and technology, and 
    • environment and climate change. 
    • oversees defence training programmes, 
    • study tours, 
    • aid for disaster relief, 
    • the deputation of Indian experts abroad and 
    • project-based cooperation. 
  • Africa is a key beneficiary of the programme with nearly 50 percent of the ITEC slots reserved for countries from the region.
  • India-Africa cooperation has also focused on techno economic capacity building. Skill development and capacity building featured prominently in all the India-Africa Forum Summits
• Information technology (IT) 
  • It is an important pillar of India’s technical cooperation with Africa, given the role of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector in India’s growth story and the importance most African leaders attach to ICT sector development. 
  • The Pan African e-Network, 
    • Phase 1 launched in 2009, 
    • It was a groundbreaking initiative to extend Indian expertise in IT to provide better healthcare and education facilities in 53 African countries. 
  • The second phase of this programme, e-VidyaBharti and e-ArogyaBharti (e-VBAB) 
    • was started in 2018, 
    • with an aim to provide free tele-education to 4,000 African students each year for five years and continuing medical education for 1000 African doctors, paramedical staff, and nurses. 
    • The programme is fully funded by the Indian government and is web-based, so any Indian university qualified to offer online education can do so for African students.
• Scholarship Programme by India:
  • India’s scholarship programme also grew rapidly. 
  • At the third India-Africa Forum Summit in 2015, India pledged to provide 50,000 scholarships to African students over a five-year period and set up institutions of higher learning in Africa. 
• Study in India Initiative: 
  • In 2018, India’s Ministry of Human Resource and Development launched the ‘Study in India’ initiative 
  • To attract students from neighbouring and African countries. 
  • Foreign students can choose from 1,500 courses being offered at the undergraduate, graduate and PhD level by public and private institutions in India, and meritorious students could receive up to 100 percent fee waivers. 
  • Not proved to be very successful: However, the initiative has not been successful in attracting African students to India. 
  • Most foreign students who come to India only opt for the Indian Institutes of Technology through academic collaborations (and not the ‘Study in India’ programme). 
  • China is sought as a more attractive academic destination than India: 
    • for higher studies to African students. 
    • Although the quality of education varies from institution to institution, even India’s most prestigious institutes do not meet global standards on infrastructure, research and faculty-student ratio.
    • The poor quality of education in India is the primary reason it is not the foreign destination of choice for African students. 
• Cooperation on global issues
  • They have moved joint proposals, such as the Agricultural Framework Proposal and Protection of Geographical Indications, at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and World Intellectual Property Organisation, 
  • Have worked towards protecting the food and livelihood concerns of farmers at the Doha Development Round of WTO negotiations. 
  • India and South Africa are also currently pressing for a waiver of certain provisions of the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights for COVID-19 treatment and vaccines.
  • Nearly half of all member countries in the International Solar Alliance, initiated by India, are from Africa.
    • India and Africa have also coordinated responses in climate action negotiations. India has announced an LoC worth US$ 2 billion to Africa over five years for the implementation of off-grid solar energy projects and is working to develop solar power systems across the Sahel region to provide electricity to approximately half of the 600 million Africans who are currently off-grid[23].
  • COVID 19:
    • India has also aided African countries amid crises, including during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
    • India has provided 270 metric tonnes of food aid to Sudan, South Sudan, Djibouti and Eritrea,
    • Supplied essential medicines (including hydroxychloroquine and paracetamol) to over 25 African countries. 
    • The Indian government also organised an e-ITEC training course for healthcare professionals on COVID-19 prevention and management protocols. 
    • And even as developed countries have focussed on securing large vaccine supplies for their own populations, India is being hailed for its vaccine diplomacy — it has exported over 1.6 crore doses of vaccines globally, of which about 62.7 lakh doses (or about 37 percent) are as grant assistance. 

Way Forward

With its limited resources, India can try to make its development cooperation with Africa more impactful in the following ways:

• Clear strategy for African development: Unlike China and the West, India does not have substantial resources to support Africa. Therefore, it should prepare a focused Africa strategy for the next decade and identify a few areas for closer cooperation. 
• Continue the current focus on capacity building: Commodity-led high growth in the last decade did not lead to adequate job creation and poverty alleviation in Africa. Therefore, a simple focus on building physical infrastructure and economic growth will not contribute to a stable and prosperous Africa. Investment in human capital is the key to development in Africa. 
• Harness Indian civil society organisations, NGOs, and Indian diaspora: Some Indian organisations like Pratham and Barefoot College are also playing an important role in Africa. The Indian government should explore greater collaboration with these organisations to implement development projects in Africa at low costs.
• Promote development-friendly private investments: Given the emphasis on mutual benefit in its strategy, India’s development cooperation should be aligned to its commercial interests in Africa. Therefore, India should try to support Indian companies making investment in development-friendly projects for mutual benefit.
• Timely completion of projects: Efforts must be made to expedite the LoC projects. Lessons should be drawn from other countries that have a much better record in implementation.
• Address concerns about academic experience in India: India’s record in providing higher education to African students has been patchy. Therefore, India must make largescale investments in its own higher education sector to project itself as an education hub for neighbouring countries and Africa.
• Improve the experiences of Africans in India: The Indian government is usually quick to respond to instances of Indian students facing racism in foreign countries. Efforts should also be made to educate Indians about Africa so that people-to-people connections between India and Africa flourish.

Sources: IE